


Under the Green

by Pigeonsplotinsecrecy



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: M/M, based on episode 1x10, enjoying the night sky, prose prose and more prose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigeonsplotinsecrecy/pseuds/Pigeonsplotinsecrecy
Summary: Under the green sky, Carlos and T.K. get the chance to start a life together.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	Under the Green

Under the green, there’s a blue car, and on the car, there’s two tiny people staring at the enormous sky with adoring eyes. Gently, the green illuminates the infinite darkness with rare streaks of emerald that sparkle and cast a tranquil but ominous hue on the ground below. The green is the earth’s response to its own chaos, a result of the world being off balance, but as people teeter on the shaking ground beneath their feet, something remarkable happens. They learn to stand again. They find new ways to distribute their weight and endure the changing terrain. They’re forced to ditch the routines that call to them like sirens. They start new things that the comfort of steadiness would never let them try. They join hands and decide that they want to give spending their lives together a chance. Neither will put it quite that way, but it’s what they want.

The green hangs over Austin, and it commiserates with the people. It bows its head in respect and offers the gift of a beautiful distraction. As haunting as it is, the green is healing. It lets the people know that the world isn’t entirely bad or good. It reminds them of the complexity, the unbelievable blend of beauty and horror. They’ve made it through the dark, and the green pats them on the back for their efforts. Tomorrow, it will be gone, washed away by the blinding sun, but that moment will shine in their minds. Memory is fickle, but they’ll never forget how they felt under the green.

Carlos and T.K. are very still, and when they do move, their motions are slow like the green is molasses and they are swimming through it; sweet and sticky, it keeps them from coming undone. They’re used to flashing lights, cutting through the night in choppy bursts of red, blue, and amber, but the green is steady. The green isn’t urgent. It swaddles them in its calm and offers them the change they crave. The world feels like it’s theirs, and even if it isn’t, no one can take this moment from them. More than the green, they’ll remember the way they leaned close and kissed, and the tenderness they felt in the dark, just bright enough to see each other but dark enough to hide the lingering apprehensions that still stomped in their minds. It’s easy to be foolish in dim lighting just as it’s easy to be terrified in the pitch blackness or disoriented by the afternoon sun after sitting so long in the dark.

As grueling as it was, they made it through the day, and now, they’re dreaming of tomorrows. They’re quiet. They share words every now and then, but they don’t need to speak to feel comfortable. The green soothes the awkwardness between them, and it feels so natural to be so close and so willing to make a commitment that seemed too intense in the light.

They turn their heads towards each other, and they smile. After a while, they laugh. They’re giggling uncontrollably for no other reason than they’re relieved that it’s finally okay to laugh. They can exhale the breaths they’ve been holding, and they know that tomorrow they’ll have plenty more stressors to bog them down, but for tonight, they let the green be their guardian, protecting them from the worries that threaten to ruin the moment.

Even with the green, they both feel a little lost. How could they not? There’s so much they have yet to navigate. There are so many conversations they need to have. There are boundless hardships they’ll face. Starting something new brings new challenges. They’ll be pushed to their limits and asked to push against their defenses. But this new start is exactly what they need. They can’t erase the past. It will still be there. No matter how much green they take in, there’s no medicine to cure the past of its ailments. They don’t have to let the past destroy their future. They don’t have to commit themselves to a life of never cloying comfort. Under the green, they find the excuse to tip toe across a new tightrope, just as thin and hard to manage but with a better prize at the end of the line and better sights for along the way.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know. I just wrote this because I wanted to participate in Lone Star Week but have been not great about writing. Hope someone enjoyed this at least. Thanks for reading!


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